“The two of them tried to destroy each other. By destroying each other, Cole Hocker stepped up.”
BBC Sport commentator and former world champion Steve Cram’s verdict on an epic men’s 1500m final got right to the point.
All the talk, all the build-up and hype had been about Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen against world champion Josh Kerr.
The sharp tongues and nail-biting racing built a compelling rivalry, and it was expected one would take the glory on the purple track in Paris.
The race was as gripping as everyone had predicted. Except nobody handed the pony-tailed Hocker the script.
“I kind of told myself that I’m in this race too,” the 23-year-old American said. “If they let me fly under the radar, then so be it.”
As it turned out, Hocker flew his way to an Olympic gold medal and stunned the Stade de France.
‘I ruined it for myself’
Ingebrigtsen’s scorched earth approach – seemingly aimed at making sure his rial was nowhere near him by the home straight – backfired as he blew up to finish fourth. Kerr took silver and Yared Nuguse bronze.
After the stony-faced Norwegian crossed the line he shook his head in disbelief at what had unfolded.
His Olympic crown gone and not so much as a silver or bronze as consolation.
“I opened with a 54-second lap,” Ingebrigtsen said.
“That wasn’t the plan at all. It was at least two seconds too fast. I was thinking about slowing down, but the next lap was almost the same speed.
“I ruined it for myself by going way too hard.”
It is a stark assessment from the Norwegian, and one which will only fuel suggestions he appeared rattled by successive World Championship defeats by Kerr and Great Britain team-mate Jake Wightman.
His eagerness to leave everyone flagging left his legs weak when it mattered.
Former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe suggested on BBC One that Ingebrigtsen’s “nerve just cracked a little bit”.
Maybe he played the only card he thought he had.
“He has no other way of running,” BBC Radio 5 Live summariser Allison Curbishley said.
“He had to make it hard and take the sprint out of everyone else, but unfortunately for him everyone else knows that and has trained for it.
“They know he can be defeated.”
Britain’s Kerr ‘extremely proud’
While it may be back to the drawing board for Ingebrigtsen after a sobering night, Kerr will have so many mixed emotions.
He had trained like a demon and sacrificed so much for a tilt at gold.
He had even taken a trip to the Stade de France at Christmas and talked his way in to the grand arena to try and picture the winning moment.
Poised for glory as he hurled himself down the home straight, his legs faded and Hocker snuck up the inside.
Silver will not have the same shine, but when you turn up to the final and run faster than you’ve ever run before, set a British record, break the previous Olympic record and step on to the podium, it is hard to be too downbeat.
“I can’t walk away from a Championship disappointed,” said Kerr, who became the first Scot to claim track medals at more than one Games.
“I said what my goals were, it was pretty obvious, but I put a performance out there today which I was extremely proud of.
“I focused on my controllables, I ran the best and the fastest tactical 1500m I have ever done in my life.”
At 26, Kerr will harvest hopes of going one better in Los Angeles in 2028 and completing his Olympic set.
Bronze in Tokyo, silver in Paris, gold in LA. It has a nice ring to it.
But next on the cards, he says, is a couple of pints, having given up alcohol on his Olympic journey.
“It would be amazing to get gold at LA but I’m secure in myself as a medallist at every championships bar one in the last four years,” Kerr added.
“I’ve been consistent at this level and I will get the medal I want by the end of my career. It didn’t happen today but it was a big step in the right direction.”
The last word, though, must go to Hocker. A man few talked about in the build-up delivered in the crucial moment and conjured a huge shock.
It’s why we love sport.
“That’s an unbelievable feeling,” the American said.
“I just felt like I was getting carried by the stadium and God. My body just kind of did it for me. My mind was all there and I saw that finish line.
“Winning gold was my goal this entire year. I wrote that down and I repeated it to myself even if I didn’t believe it.
“I knew I was a medal contender, and I knew that if I get it right, it would be a gold medal.”
